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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29691231">And then she walked in</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/itslitfam/pseuds/itslitfam'>itslitfam</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Office (US)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:15:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,352</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29691231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/itslitfam/pseuds/itslitfam</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He isn't a mushy guy. he doesn't do the whole rom-com lovey-dovey crap...but she was something. He doesn't know what it is about her but she had an effect on him that he couldn't quite describe.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ryan Howard/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 5:02pm Friday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He was the temp turned salesman, everyday was the same. Phone calls, cold calls and a copious amount of terrible office coffee. He kept thinking that this was better than being the temp, he was getting paid and he no longer had to respond to Michaels crazy and insane errand requests. At the same time though he was afraid that he'd be trapped in this company forever and he would become the future Stanley or even worse...the future Jim.</p><p>Most of the time he didn't mind his life, he tried to be make peace with the fact that he was where he was, but sometimes he caught himself looking around at his co-workers and he could feel the hot heat of disappointment and frustration pool up in the deep pit at the bottom of his stomach. He was only meant to be the temp; he was going to complete business school and then leave this place and move onto something bigger, better and a lot more worth his while.</p><p> </p><p>--------</p><p> </p><p>It was during one of his deep-in-thought mini pity party sessions that Michael came bursting out of his office looking like a kid with a sugar rush who was allowed unlimited cake at a unicorn pinata birthday party. He wasn't Michaels biggest fan in fact he tried to avoid him as much as possible and as often as he could, but he always curious as to what triggered Michaels perky mood swings usually it was sex or food, today he was wondering which one of those it could be and was dreading as to what story would accompany the revelation...both equally terrifying and gross. </p><p>--------</p><p> </p><p>Michael burst out of his office with an enthusiasm that was not at all contagious, only cringey. He lightly bounced up and down and declared not said that he had an important announcement to make to the staff. </p><p>" Heellooooo everyoneeee, so as I have just declared I have a very important announcement to make. As we all know our fabulous wham bam thank you ma'am Pam, has been promoted to Office administrator and we had a vacancy for our receptionist position. I am delighted to inform all you fine people that we have found our replacement and the newest addition to our cool crew. She is going to be starting Monday and I think she is going to be a great fit for our cool crew. I will do all formal introductions on Monday but let's just say that the way her mouth sounds is something else"</p><p> </p><p>Eughhh Michael could be so crass sometimes, he made anything that could potentially okay just downright horrible but even though Ryan tried to be noble, he was still just a man and now was curious about what Michael meant about her mouth (not that he was going to say anything out loud). He was intrigued however and was hoping that the new receptionist was hot...well at the very least someone he would want to look at, the office was quite dull and he could definitely use a new thing to play cat and mouse with to waste the time. </p><p>While he was in his trance of thinking about the potential rack of the new receptionist, he was woken out of it by the sound of Jim and Pam logging out of their computers. He looked at the time and thanked his stars that it was 5:02pm and it was a Friday ( he was looking forward to a wild weekend with his friends, he needed to get laid bad).</p><p>He logged out, shut down his computer, grabbed his jacket and walked out of the building not wanting to look back or think about it until Monday morning. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. What Monday Blues???</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ryan is becoming the new Jim after all...will he run and if he does is it towards what he wants or will it be away from his feelings?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There is a time jump in this chapter. Not a big one.  Also i still haven't found my style so bear with me while i change it up to write the narrative properly.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>8:50 am Monday</p><hr/><p>Oh Monday's, fucking Mondays. They arrive too soon and last way too long. Ryan was still dreaming of the amazing weekend he had just experienced. He had gotten completed shitfaced and had met so chicks, all of that made him once again feel like he was young and didn't have a completely dead future. </p><p>He climbed into the elevator preparing himself for the dreadful week ahead and tried to think "happy thoughts" aka his prior wild weekend shenanigans. </p><p>As he walked to the door of the office he heard an unfamiliar voice wafting down the hallway. It was then that he remembered that the new receptionist was meant to start today, it was then -listening to her voice waft down the hallway - that he then understood what Michael meant by her mouth sounding funny. </p><p>-------</p><p>He noted as he got closer to the door that she had an accent, her voice was soft (sounded a bit shy) so he couldn't quite make out where her accent was from, but he could tell that she definitely was not American.</p><p>He didn't know how it happened and he definitely didn't know why it had happened but at the sound of her voice, his heart sped up just a tad and he felt in the lower pit of his stomach a little flutter and heat. It took him completely by surprise and he quickly shook it off cause it was so damn unwelcome and uncomfortable. He hadn't even seen the girl, but what he did know is that if that's the effect her voice had on him...this girl was trouble and he was going to be in biiggggg trouble.</p><hr/>
<hr/><p>Time jump: 2 months later </p><hr/>
<hr/><p>He's got the perfect seat in the house. He has the perfect view of her from his desk and he doesn't even mind where his desk is anymore because of this. </p><p>When he was first allocated his desk, it was Michael that has delegated his spot and he very openly, honestly and uncomfortably stated that he has chosen that particular desk for Ryan so that he could gaze at him while he worked and could admire Ryans boyish chiselled charm when he needed to rest his eyes. </p><p>He hated his desk, he could always feel Michaels gaze burning a hole into the side of his head. He had gotten Dwight's desk as Dwight was now moved to Jim's spot, as Jim was moved to his own private office, now that he was a co-regional manager with Michael. He always tried to finish his work as fast as possible to avoid sitting in the spot for longer than needed; however, now he was not too disappointed with his spot as the new receptionist was right in his line of view and he didn't have to act creepy in order to get a glance at her every now and again when he needed to "rest his eyes". </p><p>She had now been working for Dunder Mifflin for just under two months and he came to the conclusion that she was one of the coolest and quirkiest people he had ever met. He had had many chats with her over the last two months and every time he did, he felt like he could breathe. She was so easy to talk to, he had found out that her accent that he had heard two months ago from the hallway was Australian. She was a 25-year-old Australian young woman, who had decided to move to America after graduating with her degree to look for new opportunities and start her life ( as she had put it). She had travelled (something he aspired to do), she loved to read, she loved music ( she was constantly talking about a new artist or genre that she had discovered) and she loved to laugh. He<strike> loved </strike> liked her laugh, it was the sort of laugh that made <em>you</em> want to laugh. It was contagious, infectious and it seeped into the dark cold corners of his self-pitying being.</p><p>When he found the moment when he felt that start to happen, he quicky shut it down or shut it out. He was not going to be that guy. This was a Jim and Pam situation happening again and he was not going to be the new Jim, not ever.</p><p>But he couldn't help it.... there was something about her....</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let me know what you think. I wanted to create a new character arc for Ryan as I thought he deserved better. He had so much potential.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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